Joško Španjić
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joško Španjić | ||
| Date of birth | 2 March 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Split, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1976–1984 | Hajduk Split | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1988 | Hajduk Split | 50 | (1) |
| 1988–1990 | Balestier Khalsa FC | ||
| 1990–1991 | FC Kärnten | ||
| 1991–1995 | Hajduk Split | 58 | (2) |
| 1996–1999 | NK Zadarkomerc | 99 | (12) |
| National team | |||
| 1984–1988 | Yugoslavia U-21 | ||
| 1989 | Singapore | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 2000 | HNK Dinara | ||
| 2001 | NK Uskok | ||
| 2002–2006 | Hajduk Split (youth coach) | ||
| 2007–2009 | Hajduk Split (youth coach) | ||
| 2009 | Hajduk Split (caretaker) | ||
| 2009–2010 | Hajduk Split (assistant coach) | ||
| 2011–2013 | NK Primorac 1929 | ||
| 2013–2014 | NK Dugopolje | ||
| 2015–2016 | Hajduk Split (assistant coach) | ||
| 2016–2017 | Al Ain U21 | ||
| 2017 | Al Ain (caretaker manager) | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Joško Španjić (born 2 March 1966) is a Croatian football coach and a former player.
Career
Španjić made his debut for Hajduk Split in 1984 and was a regular player under coach Stanko Poklepović. He gained fame at the time after his goal against Red Star Belgrade in 1985. In 1986, he joined the military and when he returned to Hajduk in 1987, he was dropped from the squad by the new coach from Bulgaria, Ivan Vutsov. After a six-month loan spell at NK Neretva, Španjić moved abroad and went to Singapore in order to play for Balestier Khalsa FC. In 1989, he and Boris Lučić became the first foreigners to play for the Singapore national football team. Later, he went to play for FC Kärnten in Austria where his countrymen Marin Kovačić was the manager.
In 1990, he returned to his native Split for family reasons. He was for six months without a club. In 1991, Stanko Poklepović returned to Hajduk and called Španjić to join the club. During his time at Hajduk, he won 3 titles and 2 cups. In 1996, he went to NK Zadarkomerc where he became the club captain and was part of their biggest triumph in 1998 when they finished 6th in the league. After Zadarkomerce, he played a few games for minor league clubs such as NK Mosor and NK Drinovci after finally retiring.[1]
After coaching minor league clubs, in the beginning, he was called by Igor Štimac in 2002 to join the Hajduk Split youth system as a coach. He managed the U-16 Hajduk squad and won two Croatian U-16 championships during that time. In 2009, he became the caretaker of the Hajduk Split first team for two games after manager Ivica Kalinić resigned due to health problems. Later, he became the assistant coach to Edoardo Reja and later to Stanko Poklepović.
In 2011, he took over NK Primorac 1929 which at the time was the Hajduk B team. In his first season, he managed to qualify for the Croatian Second Football League but in his second season, they were relegated. He took over NK Dugopolje in 2013 but resigned in March 2014.[2]
In 2015, he was called by the new Hajduk Split manager Damir Burić to join him as assistant manager on which he agreed. He lost the job on 2 June 2016 after Damir Burić was sacked. On 9 July 2016, he joined Al Ain FC as a youth coach.
In January 2017, he became caretaker manager of Al Ain, after Zlatko Dalić was sacked.[3]
References
- ↑ "INTERVJU Joško Španjić" (in Croatian). Dalmatinski portal. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ↑ "Joško Španjić više nije trener Dugopolja" (in Croatian). Dalmacijanews. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ↑ "Al Ain turn to Under 21 manager to take charge of match against bitter rivals Al Ahli". The National Uae. Retrieved 25 January 2017.